you know, president obama's wife, our first lady, michelle obama, had seated next to ms. herseth sandlin: own guest, -- to her her own guest, she was shot down in chicago but only a few weeks before she had been performing for her country at the president's inauguration. and so whether it was ordinary members of congress who just brought different people or it was the president or the first lady, the people who can speak most eloquently about the need for sane, sensible gun violence reform were here, mr. speaker, were here and were present in this gallery so that they could be at a witness and presence on the need. and what did president obama say? he said, give us a vote. he said, give us a vote. . i say to the republican house majority, why are you afraid? let's have a vote. let's count who is for sensible gun violence prevention and who is not. who is for closing loopholes that allow people to escape background checks and make sure that anybody who gets a firearm, an instrument that is dangerous by any account, at least we know that this person is sane and legally qual